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welove2rv's avatar
welove2rv
Explorer
May 01, 2013

tow dolly

I am thinking about buying a tow dolly to use for are car. What are good brands or bad brands? Is there anything else i should look for other than to make sure it is able to handle the weight of my car.


thanks for your help
chris
  • Which dolly did you buy? I am going to go from 4-down to dolly because of the transmission burning up. You can see my story in this forum; it is about the Mazda Tribute dated 7/25/2013. Thank you for the information.
  • thanks for the info. I have been looking at the demco and roadmaster. im trying to find a dealer close buy so i can look at them. I do know i want brakes on it since i pull a trailer now that i can feel pushing me alittle and it only ways about 3000lbs.
  • I too have a Stehl, but with Surge brakes. Depending on the weight of the vehicle you are towing I would definitely recommend brakes
  • I used a Stehl Tow Dolly with electric brakes for 3 years until I had to sell that car anyway, and bought one capable of 4 down.

    I did have to install my own breakaway switch, but it wasn't difficult. There are 2 separate wires running from the 7 pin connector, one to each wheel. In the hollow axle, where they run, I cut them and put connectors on, then I made a 5 wire connector bundle and plugged in both wires from the 7 pin connector, both wires from the wheels, and the wire from the breakaway switch. Worked like a charm.
  • I’ve been pulling my Vibe on a Demco KarKaddy SS for 8 years, 45,000 miles and am very well pleased with it. It’s fully galvanized so I’ll never have rust or paint problems, its tongue folds back and the wheel ramps fold up to reduce storage space by almost 50%. It has surge brakes so I don’t have to have a controller in the MH and can us it with any towing vehicle with hitch. They are a little more expensive but you can buy them at a lot of places for less than suggested retail so Google “KarKaddy SS” for prices and information.

    Dave
  • I used a Roadmaster for about 10 years. Then got a veh. to tow 4 down due to health. What you are going to need is brakes on the dolly if it and the toad exceeds the weight that your state allows without brakes. You should also get a wiring harness allowing you to light both tail and brake lights in the toad as your toad's rear end is probably more than 3' behind the dolly tail lights. I highly recommend getting brakes on whatever dolly you get because you will be adding in the neighborhood of 3,000 lbs. to your rig and every little bit of braking power is worthwhile. I didn't have a problem towing my 2000 Honda Civic, but hooking up and storing in a campground could be a pain. I also recommend putting a jack stand with a wheel on the front of the dolly tounge so you can move it manually. Gets very heavy trying to lift and move. I also installed a hitch on my Honda so I could move the dolly with it. Sometimes a very small grade will defeat your ability to manually move that dolly.
    The reason I recommend a connection to your toad's brake and tail lights is that if you get an umbilical with it's own lights (generally magnetic) you will find that cable will take paint off no matter how tight you think it is. It will move on the paint. Mine did no matter how I tried to keep it still. My comment about brakes is to get a controller for the MH, utilizing the brakes on the dolly. You don't have to get an aux. braking system for the toad.
    Hope it helps.
  • I use a master tow with elect brakes. Has a 4800 lb capacity. Had for 3 years with no probs.
  • I used a Demco KarKaddy 2 for about 25 years and never had a problem. I now tow 4 down as my back and knees are not what they used to be.
    I don't know about other brand.

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